We stand for social justice, Dayak culture, indigenous rights, and the protection of the forests of Kalimantan.

“If you want to learn about a culture, listen to the stories. If you want to change a culture, change the stories.” - Michael Margolis -

For a long time Dayak people have been put into a frame by mainstream media. It causes stigma that later lead into discrimination, negative understanding, even bullying toward indigenous people of Kalimantan. We dream to change the way world see us by bringing you the stories from the heart of the island, which are amazing, inspiring and showing who we truly are.

More than 162,000 hectares of forest has been burned in Kalimantan and Sumatera. In Central Kalimantan itself, there are 1971 hotspots. Everyday in Palangkaraya the PM 2.5 number reaches more than 1000 μg/m³ (PAQ), resulting to 9000 people being affected by URI (ISPA).

In commemoration of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (World Indigenous Day - Aug 9), Ranu Welum Foundation & Indigenous Film Festival presented “Kalimantan Indigenous Film Festival 2” or #KIFF2019 to the city that Ranu Welum calls home - Palangkaraya (Central Kalimantan).

A story by Nanda, 23 years old Dayaknese that spent almost her whole life outside her home island. — Just moved back in to Kalimantan, there’s nothing more that I wanted to do other than go to the villages. I was stoked when I first heard the plan that we are going to stay in a village area for five days, as the city is immensely stressful.

“Two of my children experienced severe cough for a month because they have been breathing this polluted air. We don’t have any other place to hide from this haze” said Sudarto, a father that came to our haze shelter to get fresh air and mask for his children.

‘Until I was in high school, I didn’t refer to myself as ‘Indigenous’. I didn’t speak in my mother tongue. My father is Javanese and my mother is Dayak Ngaju, therefore I faced a dilemma. I always asked myself ‘who am I, am I Dayaknese? Am I Javanese?’, but the voice inside my heart keeps saying that I’m Dayak. So, I learn how to speak Dayak Ngaju. After I’m able to speak in Dayak Ngaju, I feel a sense of belonging to Dayak Ngaju Community. Now I really am proud to say I’m Dayak.’

The younger generation is often considered to represent the future; they bring new ideas that can engender change, they bring enthusiasm and vitality; leading to new discoveries and developments that can benefit society. Unfortunately, young people’s voices are still not well represented in various countries - especially Indonesia. We believe that youth forums are the best platform for young people to connect and speak for themselves.

Indonesia’s rainforests are one of earth’s most biologically and culturally rich landscapes. Unfortunately, in line with the increasing pace of Indonesia’s economic growth, forest loss continues every year. The scale of destruction of our rainforest is so large that it now has a significant impact on global climate. For this reason, Youth Act Kalimantan initiated a youth movement, 'The Heartland Project', which aims to mobilize young people from all over Indonesia to participate in planting trees and restoring remaining forests in their area.

Pak Udin, a senior fellow, was coming from South Kalimantan by riding his motorbike for 3 hours each morning to reach the venue on time during our two days training. He was showing a photo taken by his cell phone to explain the wide shot. Besides Pak Udin, other trainees also came from villages and districts which were 2-3 hours driving from Tamiang Layang.

Peat swamp forests in Kalimantan provide a wide range of benefits for humankind and other creatures. It is home to many unique plants and animals that can be only found in Kalimantan. Forests also provide social and economic benefits to the community, especially for the Indigenous People, Dayak People. Many villagers can source rattan, wood, herbs, resin, fish and fruits from the forest. But unfortunately, due to annual forest fires, we have lost thousands of hectares of our peat swamp forests. For this reason, Youth Act planted 500 trees to help with the renewal of a burned peat area.